Community Action of Southern Kentucky, Inc. is requesting proposals for Landscaping Management and Mowing Services in the Warren County area.

If interested in submitting a proposal for Landscaping Management and/or Mowing Services, please see the attached documentation or call 270-782-3162, ext. 245 for more information. All proposals must be returned to the address below, no later than 2:00 PM, Friday, March 18, 2016.

Community Action of Southern Kentucky, Inc. is an “Equal Opportunity Employer”.

Community Action of Southern Kentucky, Inc., is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation. Federal, state, and local government funding, private contributions and user fees enable our agency to provide a comprehensive range of human services to residents in the Barren River area, especially those confronting issues of poverty. This program is funded, in part, under a contract with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services with funds from the Community Services Block Grant Act of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Using a timer in your classroom helps everyone in your room!! Having a visible, large timer can help preschoolers learn to take turns and it helps them begin to understand short periods of time. It also helps the busy, active teacher keep track of time as you move through your daily schedule. Timers make things objective and set limits, and it is a simple way for you to take charge of your classroom and push your students into focused attention on the task they are trying to complete.

Timers transform stressful transition periods, reduce resistance to routines, and increase your ability to manage your classroom. Preschoolers can begin to understand the passage of time through your use of timers and the timer becomes the ‘enforcer’ while taking the burden off of the teachers. They can turn classwork into fun and timers encourage taking turns, which as you know is an essential skill for this age group.

There are several options for timers, and you should use whatever works for you. A simple kitchen timer will do the trick, but a large, visual timer that hangs on the wall is even better for preschoolers because they can see it and check the time independently.

Cooperation and taking turns are the back-bone of young children’s social and emotional development. If these two simple skills can be fully learned by preschoolers, they will be well on their way to a more satisfying, happy life. Taking turns is one of critical steps toward self-regulation and it involves waiting, which builds patience. How can you subtly teach and ingrain these skills in your classroom? Here are some simple strategies for helping your students.

1. During a painting activity with a group of 3 students, make 2 paintbrushes available so that 1 student has to observe and wait. Let the other students paint for 2 minutes, then all 3 of the students change roles. You can gradually increase the waiting time as the children gain more control.

2. Read social stories in your classroom about taking turns and being a good friend.

3. The teaching staff can model turn taking with each other during large group time. Put on a fun, short skit in front of your students about cooperation and taking turns. Or as an alternate, if you have puppets in your room, the puppets can model cooperation and turn taking.

4. Playing board games or playing cards teaches turn taking, and this is an activity that the parents can do at home with their child.

All of us were taught these good life skills early in life, which somehow makes it a little easier when we are standing in line at Wal-Mart or Kroger, or getting our driver’s license renewed. Well, at least most of the time…….

Community Action of Southern Kentucky, Inc. accepts applications each spring for our annual Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Scholarship. There are $1000 scholarships available, one in each of the ten counties.

Our CSBG Scholarship helps provide training or retraining required for the local job market. The CSBG Scholarship is open to income-eligible individuals wanting to return to school or continue their education. Scholarship benefits can be applied to fees, tuition, or textbooks at a college/university, vocational/technical school, or trade/professional program.

Applicants must live in the Barren River Area Development District (in Allen, Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Hart, Logan, Metcalfe, Monroe, Simpson, or Warren county), have a high school diploma or equivalent, show proof of household income within federal poverty guidelines, and complete an application form. The application form and more information is available here.